The Diner
by BiGgEsT.bOoKwOrM.iN.tHe.wOrLd
Summary: Painting is the only thing Bella finds peace in. She wished she could paint all day, instead of serving those obnoxious customers at the diner. Then one of the most irritating customers shows up at her painting class and changes everything.
1. Chapter 1

I had never really understood the phrase "raining cats and dogs" until now. I mean, I knew that it meant that there was a lot of rain, but that was just in theory. Living in Arizona, I had never actually experienced. It never rained that much there.

But apparently it did in Forks, Washington.

I was curled up on the couch in my dad's living room. Sipping on some watery hot cocoa, I just stared outside.

Was it even possible for there to be that much rain? And it wasn't like it would just pick up, rain hard, and then stop a few minutes later. Nope. It had been down pouring at this rate for hours.

I pulled my blanket tighter around me. Did it have to be so cold here too? I had never really appreciated the weather in Arizona until now. I remembered all those days of just laying outside. The sun's warm rays. The pool down the street-

But I shook those thoughts from my mind.

"Bells, anything else I can do to help ya get settled?" Charlie, my dad, asked.

"No I think I'm good. Thanks though,"

"I need to go down to the station but just call me if you need anything," he said, his tone telling me he was worried about me.

"I'll be fine," I reassured him.

But it was only a few minutes after he left that I began to panic. Not a lot, but just a little. Maybe I should have gone with him or told him not to leave. I was completely alone. My mind conjured up crazy what if stories. My head told me to relax, but I couldn't. There were too many possible scenarios. Too many haunting memories to just sit here alone and relax.

No, I told myself. Just stop. I took a couple of deep calming breaths. You can do this, I told myself, though I didn't really believe it. My hands were shaking now. What had the counselor said about what to do?

Noise.

I began to search for the remote. I looked behind the pillows, furiously throwing them around. Looking back, I realized that I could have hit the button on the TV, but in the middle of a panic attack, I wasn't thinking logically.

I ran my hands through my hair. Where was the freaking thing? The living room was a mess now, blankets and pillows strewn everywhere. I glanced up at the kitchen table.

There!

I ran around the couch and grabbed the remote. Clutching it to my chest, I took a few deep breaths. I turned on the television and changed the channel to some soap opera. Someone had cheated on someone, and they were arguing.

I sat back down on the couch and closed my eyes. The heated conversation was like a lullaby. My muscles relaxed and my hands stopped shaking. For a few minutes I just laid there, listening but not hearing.

I rolled off the couch and went into the kitchen. Hmm, Charlie had next to no food in his refrigerator. Mostly leftovers. No fruit. Lots of beer. I would have to go to the grocery later, I thought.

I pulled out what looked to be some leftover Chinese and heated it up in the microwave. It tasted terrible, but I was so hungry that I ate it anyways.

I walked upstairs to my room. So that I could still hear the soap opera conversation, I left the door open.

The room was pretty much the same that I remembered from my childhood. The walls were painted a lilac purple. Pictures I had painted as a kid were still hanging on the wall. For a kid, they weren't that bad. I had taken a painting class every summer I had stayed here. I never painted during the school year, but something about all the greenery of Forks had given me the desire to pick up the brush. Looking at all of them, I wondered if they still offered classes. Summer break had started a few weeks ago, but they might be able to start late. I hadn't been half bad as a kid, and even though I was out of practice, it might be a good diversion. Something to fill the day so that I wasn't moping around at home.

I would have to ask Charlie about that when he got home, but for now I turned to the boxes scattered on the floor. There were so many, I didn't really know where to start. The first box had my books in it. I grabbed some and took them over to the bookshop, but it was full of books from my childhood. The closet even still had clothes from years ago. There was no way that they would fit me, but I guess it wasn't really Charlie's fault he hadn't thrown them away.

The boxes and their contents would just have to wait, I thought. Running downstairs to grab a trash bag, I started with the closet. All of the clothes and shoes had to go, but I left all my stuffed animals and toys in there. For now at least, I decided. I would have to get rid of them eventually, but I was feeling a bit too nostalgic to get rid of them at the moment.

It wasn't exactly quiet, but the soap opera conversation was nothing more than jumble of words to me. I rummaged through some boxes until I found my ipod speakers. Perfect. I grabbed my ipod out of my purse then plugged it in. I set it on shuffle, but I had to skip every few songs. They were pretty much all slow love songs and would have set off another panic attack.

The time passed quickly, and I was so into it that I didn't hear a car pull up and the door open.

"Bells, I'm home," Charlie shouted, making me jump.

"Hey dad, I'm upstairs."

"C'mere for a minute, could you?" he asked

I some how managed to maneuver around all the boxes and the two trash bags I had already filled up-and it hardly looked like I made a dent. "How was work?"

"Uneventful. How are you?" he asked, that worried tone creeping back into his voice.

"I'm really good," I told Charlie, then gave him a big smile to prove it.

"Good," he said, returning the smile, "What've you been up to?"

"I'm cleaning out my room to make space for everything I brought from Arizona."

Charlie turned a little pink. "I was gonna do that for you, but I didn't really know what to throw out, and then I was gonna ask your mom, but I forgot," he said quickly.

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad you didn't. It's something productive for me to be doing, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah." We stood there awkwardly for a minute.

"Um, I was gonna ask you, do they still offer those painting classes?"

"Down at the high school? I don't know but I can check for you."

"Thanks." The conversation fell back to an uncomfortable silence. We both opened our mouths to say something then closed them to let the other person speak.

"Go 'head, Bells," Charlie told me.

"Um do you think I could go down to the grocery store? You hardly have any edible food. I've got my license, so could I maybe borrow your car?"

"Actually, your not allowed to drive the police car, but I've got a surprise for you."

* * *

If you have any comments on the chapter, please review. Loved it? I want to hear about it. Just eh? Tell me how to make it better. Hated it? Then I want to know your honest opinions and criticisms.

And be sure to check out the author's note on the next chapter please!


	2. An Author's Note

To those who haven't clicked on this story before just now, your probably a bit confused as to why there are two chapters and fifty some reviews. Well, I started this story about a year ago and got to chapter ten. Then, (and I am embarrassed to say this) I put this off and put it off. I didn't want to go back and update because it had been so long, etc. It got ridiculous, but I recently decided to go back and finish it. Rereading, I realized that my writing had improved quite a bit and I wanted to redo the whole story.

To those who read the original, I know that this is a bit of a different beginning, but I am going to take this story in the same direction. Please forgive me for not updating on the previous version, but I hope that you think this is much better.

To all, please send me PM and _get on my butt_ if I go too long with out updating. I've never been the best at staying committed, but I really want to for this story. I just needed a little help.

Thanks and stay tuned for the next chapter!


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